Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have had my Rhino "Hypo Luxa" for 3 years. For the first year and a half of his or her life, she was skittish, but very ,manageable. We had her in a 300 gallon tank. for the last year and a half, Hypo has been outside in a custom aviary style cage.
Hypo has become very territorial, and hisses and lunges at me, when i go to feed her. She is now reaching a size that is making me pretty scared to even attempt to handle her.
She live outside yearound in Phoenix, AZ.
What can I do to tame her out a little bit.
Doug

Hi,
I'm in the Phoenix area too and have an outdoor enclosure for some of my lizards. I have observed most species that are tame indoors become very skittish once taken outside. This has occurred with my Egyptian uromastyx, desert spinies, and leopard lizards. Currently I have a collared lizard and a chuckwalla that have remained tame and are still coming to me to eat out of my hand outside. The "revert to wild" response seems to be more species specific than individual specific based on my experience. My 1.5 yr old rhino hasn't spent any time in the outdoor enclosure mainly because he attacks the smaller lizards,so I don't know his response. I am considering building an additional enclosure so I can move him outside, but would hate to go to all the trouble then have him go wild on me. You might try bringing yours back inside for a month or so to see if it calms down. Also, I'm curious... how do you provide cool spots in summer and warmth in winter? Anybody out there have good luck moving their rhino outside? Thanks.
Paul

you could try handling in the morning and the evening when she is not heated up. also show up at her enclosure or go in but dont handle her so she gets used to you being in "her space". You are not alone with this behavior. My 5 yr old rhino does the same thing after about 30 min in the yard. He gets lots or real sun in his enclosure too but in the yard,I have been chased and bitten twice. during the winter when the windows are closed he is very tame and calm. I also no longer feed him by hand. He would lunge with mouth open if I came into his enclosure thinking I had food. Even if I make a fist he will come to me and leap at my hand. now everything goes into the bowl and he has stopped. Now he runs to the bowl and waits if he sees me.
From what I have heard, being territorial is pretty normal behavior for adolescent cyclura outdoors. I have gotten much better at reading the signs he gives, and watching the clock.
I dont know if this helps but be assured its not just yours.

Rhinos have varing personalities. I recently moved mine from outdoors California to indoors New York. I find that the semi tame ones are now tamer. Some require constant interaction or they revert to less tame behavior. Others stay tame, even when they have not been interacted with for 3 months at a time.
Luke warm baths and lots of patience work wonders. All vegy diets make for tamer pets. Protien or an unbalanced diet can cause aggressive behavior. I find that none of mine like to be handled when cold. None like to be grabbed firmly, but scooping up is ok. Most of mine do not like to be picked up, but like to be petted. Good luck.